Three years
ago, a little boy & his grandmother came to see Santa at
the
Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin . The child climbed up
on his lap, holding a
picture of a little girl.
![](http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll24/santaed/Santa.jpg)
"Who is
this?" asked Santa, smiling. "Your friend? Your sister?"
"Yes,
Santa," he replied. "My sister, Sarah, who is very sick," he
said
sadly.
Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was
waiting nearby, &saw her
dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "She
wanted to come with me to see you, oh,
so very much, Santa!" the
child exclaimed.
"She misses you," he added
softly.
Santa tried to be cheerful & encouraged a smile
to the boy's face, asking
him what he wanted Santa to bring him
for Christmas. When they finished
their visit, the Grandmother
came over to help the child off his lap, &
started to say
something to Santa, but halted.
"What is it?" Santa asked
warmly.
"Well, I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa,
but ." the old woman
began, shooing her grandson over to one of
Santa's elves to collect the
little gift which Santa gave all his
young visitors.
"The girl in the photograph... my
granddaughter well, you see .. she has
leukemia & isn't
expected to make it even through the holidays," she said
through
tear-filled eyes. "Is there any way, Santa . any possible way
that
you could come see Sarah? "That's all she's asked for, for
Christmas, is to
see Santa."
Santa blinked & swallowed
hard & told the woman to leave information with
his elves as
to where Sarah was, &
he would see what he could do. Santa
thought of little else the
rest of that afternoon. He knew what he had to
do.
![](http://gi55.photobucket.com/groups/g131/8PGTET0YLF/Santa_R.jpg)
"What
if it were MY chi ld lying in that hospital bed, dying," he
thought
with a sinking heart, "this is the least I can do."
When Santa finished visiting with all the boys & girls
that evening, he
retrieved from his helper the name of the
hospital where Sarah was
staying.
He asked the assistant location manager how to get to
Children's Hospital.
"Why?" Rick asked, with a puzzled look
on his face.
Santa relayed to him the conversation with
Sarah's grandmother
earlier that
day.
"C'mon.... I'll take you there," Rick
said softly.
Rick drove them to the hospital & came
inside with Santa. They found out
which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would
wait out in the hall.
Santa quietly peeked into the room
through the half-closed door & saw little
Sarah on the bed. The room was full of
what appeared to be her family; there
was the Grandmother &
the girl's brother he had met earlier that day. A
woman whom he
guessed was Sarah's
mother stood by the bed, gently pushing
Sarah's thin hair off her
forehead.
And another woman who he discovered later was
Sarah's aunt, sat in a
chair
near the bed with weary, sad look on her face. They were
talking quietly, &
Santa could sense the warmth &
closeness of the family, & their love &
concern for
Sarah.
Taking a
deep breath, & forcing a smile on his face, Santa entered the
room,
bellowing a hearty, "Ho, ho, ho!" "Santa!" shrieked little
Sarah weakly, as
she
tried to escape her bed to run to him, IV tubes in
tact.
Santa rushed to her side & gave her a warm hug. A
child the tender age of
his own son -- 9 years old -- gazed up at
him with wonder & excitement. Her
skin was pale & her
short tresses bore telltale bald patches from the
effects of
chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at her was a pair
of
huge, blue eyes. His heart melted, & he had to force
himself to choke back
tears.
Though his eyes were riveted
upon Sarah's face, he
could hear the gasps &
quiet sobbing of the women in the
room. As he & Sarah
began talking, the
family crept quietly to the bedside one by
one, squeezing Santa's shoulder
or his hand gratefully,
whispering "thank you" as they gazed sincerely at
him with
shining eyes.
Santa & Sarah talked & talked, & she told
him excitedly all the toys she
wanted for Christmas, assuring him
she'd been a very good girl that year.
As their time together
dwindled, Santa felt led in his spirit to pray
for
Sarah, & asked
for permission from the girl's mother.
![](http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l285/craftywitch_01/santa.png)
She nodded in
agreement & the entire family circled around Sarah's bed,
holding hands. Santa
looked intensely at Sarah
&asked her if she believed in
angels.
"Oh, yes,
Santa... I do!" she exclaimed.
"Well, I'm going to ask that
angels watch over you, "he said. Laying one
hand on the child's
head, Santa closed his eyes & prayed. He asked that God
touch
little Sarah, & heal
her body from this disease.
![](http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh229/IronWarHorse/Angels.jpg)
He asked that angels minister to
her, watch & keep her. And when he finished
praying, still
with eyes closed, he started singing softly, "Silent Night,
Holy
Night.... all is calm, all is bright."
The family joined in,
still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, & crying tears
of hope,
tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed at them all.
When the
song ended, Santa sat on the side of the bed again & held
Sarah's
frail, small
hands in his own.
"Now, Sarah, "he said authoritatively, "you
have a job to do, & that is to
concentrate on getting well. I
want you to have fun playing with your
friends this summer, &
I expect to see you at my house at Mayfair Mall this
time next
year!"
He knew it was risky proclaiming that, to this little
girl who had terminal
cancer, but he "had" to. He had to give her
the greatest gift he could --
not dolls or games or toys -- but
the gift of HOPE.
"Yes, Santa! "Sarah exclaimed, her eyes bright. He
leaned down & kissed her
on the forehead & left the
room.
Out in the hall, the minute Santa's eyes met Rick's, a
look passed between
them & they wept
unashamedly.
Sarah's mother & grandmother slipped
out of the room quickly & rushed to
Santa's side to thank
him.
"My only child is the same age as Sarah," he explained quietly. "This is
the
least I could do."
They nodded with understanding
& hugged him.
One year later, Santa Mark was again back
on the set in Milwaukee for his
six-week,
seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks went by &
then
one day a child came up to sit on his lap.
"Hi,
Santa! Remember me?!"
"Of course, I do," Santa
proclaimed (as he always does), smiling down at
her.
After
all, the secret to being a "good" Santa is to always make each
child
feel as if they are the "only" child in the world at that
moment.
"You came to see me in the hospital last year!"
Santa's jaw dropped.
Tears immediately sprang in his eyes,
& he grabbed this little miracle &
held her to his chest.
"Sarah!" he exclaimed. He
scarcely recognized her,
for her hair was long & silky &
her cheeks were rosy -- much different from
the little girl he
had visited just a year before. He looked over &
saw
Sarah's mother
& grandmother in the sidelines smiling & waving &
wiping
their eyes.
![](http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn278/kels-bot/attachment.jpg)
That was the best Christmas ever for
Santa Claus. He had witnessed --& been
blessed to be
instrumental in bringing about -- this miracle of hope.
This
precious little child was healed. Cancer-free. Alive &
well. He silently
looked up to Heaven &>humbly whispered,
"Thank you, Father. 'Tis a very,
Merry Christmas!
If you
believe in miracles, you will pass this on...I
did